This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, to interactive television program guides with program series reminder and recording capabilities.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Viewers have traditionally consulted printed television program schedules to determine the programs being broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactive television program guides have been developed that allow television program information to be displayed on a viewer's television.
Interactive program guides are typically implemented on set-top boxes. Such program guides allow users to view television program listings in different display formats. For example, a user may instruct the program guide to display a grid or table of program listings organized in a channel-ordered or a time-ordered list. Users may also search and sort program listings by genre (e.g., movies, sports, etc.) or by title (i.e., alphabetically). A user may obtain additional information for a program by placing a highlight region on a desired program listing and pressing an “info” button.
Program guide data such as program listings, pay-per-view program purchasing information, promotional information, etc. is provided to users' set-top boxes with a data distribution system. Program guide data is typically stored in a central program guide database. Program guide data from the central database is transmitted to the headend facilities of various cable systems. Each headend distributes the program guide data to the set-top boxes in its system.
Some systems allow the user to set reminders to notify the user when certain television programs are to be aired. In such systems, when a user sets a reminder, the program guide will notify the user just prior to when the program is scheduled to be aired or automatically cause the system to tune to the program as it begins airing. However, if the user watches the same program each week and wishes to be notified with a reminder each time the program airs, a new reminder typically must be set by the user each time.
Some systems allow the user to select a program for recording by placing the highlight region on a program listing and pressing a “record” button. Moreover, the user may be able to schedule an upcoming program for recording. In such systems, when a user has scheduled a program to be recorded, the program guide may automatically cause the system to tune to the program as it begins airing, send a record command to a videocassette recorder to begin recording the program, and then stop the videocassette recorder from recording at the end of the program. The system may allow the user to record a program once, daily, weekly, or just weekdays. However, in order for the system to correctly record a program in a series each time it airs, the program must air at the same time and channel. If the program airs at a different channel or time, or if the user wishes to change the scheduled time or channel of recording, the programs in the series may not be recorded properly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system with program series reminder and recording capabilities.